Actress Cailee Spaeny has said it was “really precious” to spend time with Priscilla Presley when creating Sofia Coppola’s new movie which explores the private side of her life with Elvis Presley.
Spaeny portrays the US actress, who acts as an executive producer on the film, while Euphoria star Jacob Elordi plays Elvis.
Titled Priscilla, the biographical film is based on the 78-year-old’s 1985 memoir Elvis And Me.
Spaeny told the PA news agency at the London Film Festival: “Having Priscilla Presley herself was an amazing resource to have, the fact she gave me that time to sit down with her was really precious in sort of putting this puzzle piece together on how I was going to portray her.”
She added: “Its this crazy sort of rarefied life she lives but these moments along the way are incredibly relatable and universal to young women and these milestones that she goes through and how she finds herself at the end of it.”
It follows a teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meeting Elvis, who was already a rock’n’roll superstar.
US filmmaker Coppola, who won an Oscar for 2003’s Lost In Translation, has written, directed and co-produced the film.
Spaeny praised Coppola’s cinematic style, saying: “The way she chooses to tell her stories, this imagery that is iconic and aesthetically pleasing and you sort of enter this Alice in Wonderland type of dream world.
“It’s told through colours and fashion, hair and make-up and it’s this real mysterious interior that we see this movie from.
“It’s an impressionistic way to tell this film told in flashes of memory and emotions. I can’t imagine anyone else telling this story.”
She won best actress for her portrayal of Priscilla at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year.
The film comes after Baz Luhrmann released his Elvis biopic last year, starring Austin Butler in the lead role.
It was nominated for a host of Oscars, including best picture, and won Butler the Bafta for best actor.
